The long bus ride to Dawson Creek was pretty un-eventfull but it did give me a chance to see some of Watson Lake and watch the ever-changing scenery as well rolled through the last of the Yukon and into northern British Columbia.I found that my mind was working overtime during that trip and with the passing of each hour more and more thoughts of my trip ending crept into my head.I started to get a bit apprehensive about what lay in store for me once I was back in Penticton and forced to face my ex-girlfriend,her new boyfriend and deal with the realities of what has caused so much pain in my heart over the last two months.I started not to care about Ultraman anymore and just wanted to find somewhere to hide and escape the world.It wasn't a very pleasant night on the highway and I found myself mentally drained by the time the bus reached Dawson Creek.As the bus was scheduled to arrive in the morning it had been my intention to get to a bike shop,fix my wheel and get riding immediately but that plan was tossed out pretty quickly.I didn't have it in me to face the road and after putting my bike and trailer together found the closest bike store and set about fixing the one problem I had some control over.
Once I found the bike store I bought some new tubes,a new tyre and headed off in search of an hotel to stay for the night.I really didn't want to ride anymore and after remembering that the Alpe d'Huez Stage of the Tour de France was on the next morning was content with another night delay.As I said, my enthusiasm was waning and so any excuse was a good one at that point.I did manage to get a bunch of shopping in though and re-supplied myself with food and a new sleeping bag for the remainer of my trip.My mood did improve as the day wore on and after another day and night of decent food and a couple of scalding hot baths to awaken the senses,I found myself up,caffeinated and anxiously waiting for the 5am start to the coverage of the worlds most famous bicycle race.I don't know what it was but after watching the "Tour" that morning I was full of energy and ready to ride and ride I did,in a big way!
I started my ride that day quite late as a result of waiting for the "Tour" to finish but quickly made up for lost time as a peddalled down the highway at a rate of knots.All that rest must have done me the world of good as my average speed was hitting an all time high for the trip and I was cruiseing along the flat stretches at a speed just under what I would normally consider my "race pace" and I was dragging a 30 kilo trailer!Could it be that the delays were actually helping me?I guess so,as it must have been allowing me to recover and become stronger.Whatever was happening,I was flying!
Once I left the rough gravel strewn roads of British Columbia and crossed into Alberta my mood( and my pace) went from happy to downright joyous as I was soon riding on nice smooth roads,in a breakdown lane all to myself.The ever-increasing tailwind helped and the miles rolled under my wheels with ease.It was bizzare to be hitting speeds up to ten kilometers and hour faster than I had been able to peddle a few short weeks before and I was riding along in a happy daze.Just as well that I was happy about somthing as the ride itself was pretty damn boring.For the first time I was riding through an agricultural belt and the monotonous farmland lined the straight highway that stretched on to the distant horizon.God it was dull ,but after some 130 kilometers I finally crested a hill that presented me with a view of my mid afternoon rest stop,the town of Grand Prairie!
I rolled trough the outskirts of town and soon became overwhealmed by the traffic that was now flying by me in all directions.It was quite the shock back into the realities of life in the big city and I quickly sought refuge in coffee shop which was conveniently located near the junction of Hwy2 which I had ridden in on and Hwy 40 which would take me south toward Grande Cache 188 kilometers and another days ride away.
Once I had my sweaty self parked firmly in a comfy chair in the coffee shop I figured I should refill my water bottles and my Camelback and went outside to collect the four bottles that are attached to my bike and trailer.The weird thing was two of them were still full and when I checked my Camelback I found it to be still half full.It was then I realised just why I had been a little hazy over the last couple of hours.I had ridden all the way from Dawson Creek in around five hours and only consumed 750ml of coke,750ml of Slimfast mix and maybe a litre of water.I was amazed that I didn't fall apart on the highway and was pretty impressed with myself even though it was a stupid thing to do.I then spent the next hour consuming as much food and fluids as possible as I knew that the next section of my ride would be the most isolated of my entire trip,the 188 kilometes to Grande Cache.
After my extended stop in Grand Prairie I hopped on the bike and headed south on Highway 40 for what I figured would be an easy hour or so to take my total distance for the day to around 150 kilometers.What actually happened was I rode on for another 50 kilometers of long rolling hills before spending an hour or so looking for a suitable site to camp for the night.It was obvious to me that there had been all kinds of recent rain in the area as the roadside was very wet and there was standing water everywhere.I rode down four or five muddy side-roads in search of dry ground and was beginning to get very frustrated(and hungry) before finally settling for a spot a short distance down a road that seemed the least wet of all the ones around.I had to put my tent on the road itself but figured that the chances of someone driving down this road to check the gas well at the dead end around 400 meters away were pretty slim so within ten minutes my tent was up and I was set for the night.I had covered 189 kilometers for the day and was feeling great both physically and mentally and set about fixing myself dinner full of enthusiasm for the next days 130k morning ride to Grande Cahche.With only four more days of riding left I was really starting to dread my time on the road coming to an end.That night though,I was too sleepy to worry too about all that stuff and I slipped into my new $21 Walmart sleeping bag hoping like hell that the added insulation would finally afford me a nice comfy and warm night sleep.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Waiting to escape..
I couldn't believe that the Greyhound would just drive by me like they did and I left all my stuff on the side of the highway,walked into the lodge and picked up the phone.I called Greyhound Canada(who were the ones that told me the damn bus would stop)and they told me to call the Watson Lake depot.I called Watson Lake and they simply said that they did not work for Greyhound and that it wasn't their problem.Fuck!!I told them that I was now stuck for another two days until the next one came along and she just said that is the way it is and hung up.Man Greyhound Canada sucks big time!!
Linda came up to me and asked what I wanted to do and I told her that I may as well stay with them again and she told me that my room hadn't been touched yet and I could just roll my stuff back in and come back for a beer.I know that she felt really bad about what had happened to me but not as bad as I felt when Jack decided to pay for a room for the night and right in front of me she charged him four times the price I had paid.I kept my mouth shut.
The next two days were spent hanging out chatting to all the travellers as they passed through while I rested in between run and swim workouts.I was reall happy that I could run without pain but a few hours later my knee started hurting again and I was now resigning myself to the possiblity of day three at Ultraman being a really painfull day.I didn't really want to consider the damage I may have already done to my knee and just how bad it will be after the 84 kilometer run that finishes off the event.Not having done any actual swimming since the Challenge Cairns Ironman distance race seven weeks before didn't really worry me as I've done the Ultraman swim with no training before and I was sure that the dry-land swim workouts would help.It would make for a great experiment if nothing else.
Even though I was enjoying my stay at Rancheria,I did start to have some pretty low moments during the next day and after going for my morning run/walk in the woods,hid myself away in my room and watched a few movies to take my mind off all the stuff that I didn't want to think about.It was a really frustrating time for me as I was really getting sick of being delayed by outside influences all the while knowing that it is during the down times that I have time to think about the negative stuff in my life.It is a a huge Catch-22 situation because I know full well that it is my depression that holds me up and delays my progress most of the time but it is that vey down time that allows me to dwell on the stuff that causes me to become really blue and that shuts me down even more.Sometimes it is a monumental task to drag myself out of wherever I'm hidden away and deal with the real world.That evening I forced myself out of the door and back to the lodge where I knew I would be surrounded by people who would be intterested in my trip.That always seemed to cheer me up and hanging out with the ladies from the lodge that night proved just the tonic I needed.They were all so nice and so interesed in my trip and the crazy event that I was heading to Penticton to do.
My last day at Rancheria was a slow one but eventually the time came when it was time for me to leave.I had just had a huge plate of food and was floored once again when I searched out Linda to settle my account.She asked my what I had eaten and charge me $15:45 for the meal,coffee and a couple of snacks I took for the ride.I was really confused and said "there is my room as well,it should be a lot more than that".She just said "don't worry about it,it has been a pleasure having you here and we are going to miss you".Yet again I was speechless!The bus did ,as promised,stop and I loaded all my gear into the trailer among all the freight.I was touched when all the ladies who worked there lined up in the driveway and said their goodbyes with one of them yelling "Now go kick some ass in Ultraman".What had I done to deserve such generosity?I watched them all waving as the bus pulled away and was very sad to be leaving that safe little lodge in the middle of nowhere and as I write this there are tears in my eyes at the memory of that grand experience.
Linda came up to me and asked what I wanted to do and I told her that I may as well stay with them again and she told me that my room hadn't been touched yet and I could just roll my stuff back in and come back for a beer.I know that she felt really bad about what had happened to me but not as bad as I felt when Jack decided to pay for a room for the night and right in front of me she charged him four times the price I had paid.I kept my mouth shut.
The next two days were spent hanging out chatting to all the travellers as they passed through while I rested in between run and swim workouts.I was reall happy that I could run without pain but a few hours later my knee started hurting again and I was now resigning myself to the possiblity of day three at Ultraman being a really painfull day.I didn't really want to consider the damage I may have already done to my knee and just how bad it will be after the 84 kilometer run that finishes off the event.Not having done any actual swimming since the Challenge Cairns Ironman distance race seven weeks before didn't really worry me as I've done the Ultraman swim with no training before and I was sure that the dry-land swim workouts would help.It would make for a great experiment if nothing else.
Even though I was enjoying my stay at Rancheria,I did start to have some pretty low moments during the next day and after going for my morning run/walk in the woods,hid myself away in my room and watched a few movies to take my mind off all the stuff that I didn't want to think about.It was a really frustrating time for me as I was really getting sick of being delayed by outside influences all the while knowing that it is during the down times that I have time to think about the negative stuff in my life.It is a a huge Catch-22 situation because I know full well that it is my depression that holds me up and delays my progress most of the time but it is that vey down time that allows me to dwell on the stuff that causes me to become really blue and that shuts me down even more.Sometimes it is a monumental task to drag myself out of wherever I'm hidden away and deal with the real world.That evening I forced myself out of the door and back to the lodge where I knew I would be surrounded by people who would be intterested in my trip.That always seemed to cheer me up and hanging out with the ladies from the lodge that night proved just the tonic I needed.They were all so nice and so interesed in my trip and the crazy event that I was heading to Penticton to do.
My last day at Rancheria was a slow one but eventually the time came when it was time for me to leave.I had just had a huge plate of food and was floored once again when I searched out Linda to settle my account.She asked my what I had eaten and charge me $15:45 for the meal,coffee and a couple of snacks I took for the ride.I was really confused and said "there is my room as well,it should be a lot more than that".She just said "don't worry about it,it has been a pleasure having you here and we are going to miss you".Yet again I was speechless!The bus did ,as promised,stop and I loaded all my gear into the trailer among all the freight.I was touched when all the ladies who worked there lined up in the driveway and said their goodbyes with one of them yelling "Now go kick some ass in Ultraman".What had I done to deserve such generosity?I watched them all waving as the bus pulled away and was very sad to be leaving that safe little lodge in the middle of nowhere and as I write this there are tears in my eyes at the memory of that grand experience.
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